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Privacy Act Issuances: Search Tips

Sample Searches | Identification Codes

Sample Searches (3)

The following sample searches are provided as guides to general types of searches in the Unified Agenda databases. Unless otherwise indicated, the searches are performed in the 1998 Unified Agenda database. For the sake of space, only the top three or four hits in each results list are included with each example below.

Note: The results of these sample searches are described as they appear on the Web interface. The display of the results may vary for users of the WAIS client and SWAIS software.

Subject | Agency | System Name

1. Search by Subject

This type of search returns documents related to a specific subject. The word(s) that you enter as your search term(s) may appear anywhere within the document.

Query:	"medical records"
Alternative:	medical ADJ records
Results:	Privacy Act: [DEFENSE DEPARTMENT]
	Privacy Act: [HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DEPT.]

2. Search by Agency

This type of search returns documents based on the name of the issuing agency. This search was modified and made more specific with the addition of the phrase "payroll records". This modification makes the search much more specific than if you searched by agency name. As an alternative, you can use the agency field in conjunction with the subject. The asterisk (*) will pick up the word researchers (plural) as well as the singular word researcher.

Query:	"internal revenue service" AND "payroll records"
Results:	Privacy Act: [Treasury/IRS 90.018]
	Privacy Act: [Treasury/IRS 90.018]
	Privacy Act: [ PCC/FMTR-2] Internal Revenue

3. Search by System Name

This type of search turns document based on a particular field. This query will only retrieve documents that have the phrase "security records system" as the system name.

Query:	In the "System Name" field, enter "Security Records System"
Results:	Privacy Act: [NASA 10SECR] Security Records System

Identification Codes

Each document in the Privacy Act database online via GPO Access will be displayed in the results list with an identification code followed by the initial words of the title. The identification code for the Privacy Act database lists the database name and the Federal Agency's name. For example, Privacy Act: Defense Department.

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Last updated: March 29, 2006
Page Name: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/privacyact/tips.html